Sunday, July 31, 2022

Probable Relatives Becoming Definite Relatives - Keep Track of Those Stray Branches!

I'll often find a family with the surname that I'm researching, in a place nearby where my family lived, but where I don't know for sure how (or even if!) they are actually related to me.  I keep track of these families and often can connect them into my larger trees later; other times I'm able to prove that they're actually not related to the family I've been researching.  I'm always glad later that I've kept track of these stray branches, because the information is often helpful.

Birth of Yerachmiel Diment; Torchin; 1926

Back in 2018, I got multiple records for the Diment (later Diamond) family in what is now Torchin, Ukraine (then Torczyn, Poland).  I was able to connect all of those records to my tree, except for one--a 1926 birth record.  Yerachmiel Diment was the son of Chaim Lejb (Chaim Aryeh in Hebrew) and Leja.  Chaim Lejb's father was Jakob (Yaakov in Hebrew).  There were a few Yaakov Diments that could possibly have been the grandfather of Yerachmiel--and one belongs to a family that I've been able to prove is not connected to my Diment family.  So I kept this record and the associated names on the side, waiting for more data about Chaim Lejb and family to see if I could connect them to my family--or prove that they weren't related.  And I recently got that data.

Diment, Sigel & Diment Families; 1932 Lists of residents of Czaruków gmina of Jewish nationality

 In the 1932 list of Jews in Czaruków Gmina, which I recently discovered, there only eight Jewish families.  Families 5-7 were especially interesting.  Family #5 was Jankiel and Brucha Diment; I know who this couple is--and intriguingly Jankiel is Yiddish for Yaakov/Jakob.  Family #6 includes their daughter Reiza Diment Sigal.  

And look at Family #7.  The parents in this household are Chaim-Lejb and Leja.  And their oldest child is Rachmil.  When I initially got this record, I knew who families #5 and and 6 were, but I wasn't sure how #7 fit.  But once I was able to connect the Rachmil here to the Yerachmiel from that 1926 birth record, I realized that the birth record gave me Chaim Lejb's father--his neighbor in the small village of Skirche.  

Neither the birth record nor this resident list alone would be enough for me to connect Chaim Lejb and family to the rest of the Diments.  But together, it's clear how this formerly stray branch can be connected to my overall tree.  So keep track of those stray branches and associated documents; they may help you later!

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2 comments:

  1. How do you keep these “stray” fragments of family till you can attach them or determine not to!

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    1. I generally enter the oldest known generation into my tree with a 1 before the surname (so I'd have Chaim Lejb 1Diment). I'd link any documents I've found to the right person, so I have it all in one place. Then I can can look all the 1Diments to see who I still need to connect.

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